Today at the Indianapolis 500: Wednesday, May 16, 2018 Practice

After Tuesday’s opening day of practice for the 102nd Indianapolis 500, teams of the Verizon IndyCar Series will be back at it this morning with day two of practice from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Today’s practice will flow much better than the multi-stage format used yesterday to accommodate the special veterans-only, refresher/orientation and full-field sessions we typically see on the first day of preparations for the 500 Mile Race. The track will be open for all participants starting at 11:00 a.m. Eastern and barring any significant weather events, will be open until 6:00 p.m. Eastern.

Gates open for the fans at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time.

Recapping yesterday’s action, the first driver to hit the track for practice was Michael Shank Racing’s Jack Harvey. Historically, the first driver to leave pit road for practice has not finished in the top half of the field, though Danica Patrick (2005) and Eliseo Salazar (1995) are tied for the best finish of drivers “first on track” with 4th place finishes.

The morning session for Indy 500 veterans was led by Simon Pagenaud who placed a quick draft-aided lap to top the leaderboard at 225.787 MPH. His Team Penske teammates Helio Castroneves (223.445 MPH) and Josef Newgarden (223.229 MPH) were close behind as Chevrolet dominated the overall leaderboard.

Not to be forgotten, the no-tow speeds in practice one favored the Honda brigade as Graham Rahal (221.126 MPH) and Takuma Sato (220.965 MPH) led Scott Dixon, Will Power, Ed Carpenter and Alexander Rossi as drivers with quick laps without a tow in the session.

Most of the teams returned to the garage area while two hours was dedicated to rookies and veterans needing a refresher test. This included Zachary Claman de Melo (Dale Coyne Racing), Stefan Wilson (Andretti Autosport), James Davison (Foyt/Byrd/Belardi/Hollinger), Pippa Mann (Dale Coyne Racing) and Oriol Servia (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing with Scuderia Corsa).

Per the daily trackside report, Claman de Melo completed his rookie program while Davison and Servia were the only veterans to complete their refresher programs.

In the final practice session for all teams, rain threw a wrench in the proceedings as the test was halted for 50 minutes with thunderstorms affecting the north end of the Speedway. For the session, Helio Castroneves would set the fastest time with the help of a tow, followed by Ed Carpenter, Jay Howard, Scott Dixon, Marco Andretti and Sage Karam.

On the no-tow charts, Chevrolet was the quickest with Carpenter leading the way at 221.512 MPH, followed by Carlin driver Charlie Kimball (221.154 MPH), Dreyer & Reinbold’s J.R. Hildebrand (221.139 MPH) and Castroneves (220.662). The next Honda driver was Sebastien Bourdais, 5th-quick in his No. 18 Honda at 220.427 MPH.

On the day, 34 drivers participated with Matheus Leist of A.J. Foyt Racing being the only entry to not turn a lap. Though all sessions, 2,261 laps were turned by all drivers and Jack Harvey led the group with 107 laps completed. Four cautions stopped progress during the day for a total of 1 hour, 34 minutes and 3 seconds of downtime.

As for day two of practice from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, check out our resource guide for today’s activities below.

Tickets: $15 (General Admission). Kids 15 and under are free accompanied by adult with ticket.

On Wednesday, May 16, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway also would like to thank first responders for all they do. As a thank you, first responders and their families are encouraged to join us for a free day at the track*. Wristbands for pit and garage access will also be available to first responders and one guest** who show their department ID at the trackside credential office. For more information, please contact your department’s public information officer.

*Tickets are still required for gate admission. First responders are encouraged to contact their public information officer for more information on how to access tickets.

IMS Museum Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m., $15 IMS Gate Admission for Indianapolis 500 plus Museum Admission ($10 Adult, $5 Ages 6-15, Free 5 and under). Entrance into the grounds is free of charge on non-event days. However, during events the Indianapolis Motor Speedway charges an admission fee or requires a ticket to enter the grounds. This general admission fee or ticket price does not include admission to the Museum.